DNA and collagen functionalized with photosensitive molecules for applications in photonics
Ana-Maria MANEA-SAGHIN1*, François KAJZAR1,2
1Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Polizu Street No 1, 011061, Bucharest, Romania
2Laboratoire de Chimie, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard, ENS-Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon cedex 07, France
*corresponding author: Ana-Maria MANEA-SAGHIN, am_manea@yahoo.com
Abstract
Limited mineral materials resources associated with their pollution problems push at present the interest of scientists onto biological materials which originate from renewable resources and are biodegradable. Among them the biopolymers like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and collagen show very interesting properties as possible matrices for active molecules, being able to replace synthetic polymers [1] and bring more. These biopolymers are extracted from the waste of food processing industry and their sources are practically unlimited. However, their degradation time, if unprotected, is much faster than that of synthetic polymers in similar conditions.
On the other hand, the scientists turn also their attention to natural photosensitive materials, which can be extracted from flowers or fruits, like anthocyanines showing some interesting photosensitive properties for photonics applications.
In this presentation we will describe and discuss the results of our study on bio-active molecules present in the nature made materials like: green tea, sea buckthorn, cranberries and blueberries extracts. It is well known that they exhibit a significant antioxidant activity.
In this context, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and collagen were functionalized with vegetable extracts in aqueous solution. Bovine collagen is extracted from the skin of dead cows, sterilized and liquefied. The obtained material is soluble in water and form good optical quality thin films by spin coating and solution casting. The optical properties were characterized by UV –VIS spectroscopy [2, 3].
The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of functionalized thin films were studied by the optical third harmonic generation (THG) technique at 1064.2 nm fundamental wavelength. The results of spectroscopic studies and THG measurements indicate that the studied complexes are promising material for biophotonics.
[1] Grote J., Biopolymer materials show promise for electronics and photonics applications, SPIE newsroom, DOI 10.1117/2.1200805.1082(2008).
[2] A-M Manea*, F Kajzar, I Rau, A Meghea, Fluorescence, spectroscopic and NLO properties of green tea extract in deoxyribonucleic acid, Optical Materials, 36 (1), ISSN: 0925-3467, 2013, pp. 140-145, WOS:000327232600027.
[3] A-M Manea*, I Rau, F Kajzar, A Meghea, Preparation, linear and NLO properties of DNA-CTMA-SBE complexes, Proc. of SPIE 8901, 2013, ISBN 9780819497703, ISSN: 0277-786X, art. no. 89010S, doi 10.1117/12.2029326.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the financial support of Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports, through the UEFISCDI organism, under Contract Number 7/2018, Code Project PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-0580.

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